By Greg Vanden Berge
If you're a licensed architect or a professional
homebuilder, I would recommend that you send this article to all your
friends or anyone who is interested in advancing their education towards
becoming a better homebuilder. Advanced stair building tips and safety
advice from a seasoned professional can save you big money in the
future.I have personally installed thousands of
stairs and I would like to pass on, a little bit of the lessons, I have
learned over the years, to give you the advantage over anyone else who
doesn't read this article.
Always follow the 17 1/2 inch building rule for stair tread and stair
riser design. To put this in simple layman's terms, if you're stair
tread is 10 inches wide, you're stair riser should be around 7 1/2
inches tall. If we add these two numbers together, 10 inch stair tread
plus a 7 1/2 inch stair riser equals 17 1/2 inches. This is one of the
best rules to follow and provides you with a comfortable stairway to
walk up and down.
Your next stair building tip, requires you as the architect, to make
sure that your stairway isn't smaller than 36 inches wide, but I would
prefer them to be no smaller than 42 inches wide. The correct width of
the stairs can provide advantages and disadvantages in your new home
design.
Now here's the last stair building tip and I want you to give this one a
lot of thought. If you're designing a stairway that is going to be
finished in wood, tile or any other slippery surface. I would advise you
to think again or at least install nonslip gripable protection on each
stair tread.
The stairways can become extremely dangerous if your feet are wet or
even if you're wearing socks. I'm not going to make this article any
longer than it needs to be. Pay attention to what I've said and you will
be able to build safer stairways in the future.
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